By Sara Sjolin, MarketWatch
LONDON (MarketWatch) -- European stock markets moved firmly
higher on Tuesday, as investors welcomed signs U.S. lawmakers are
making progress in hammering out a deal to raise the debt ceiling
before the deadline on Thursday to avoid a technical default.
The Stoxx Europe 600 index gained 0.6% to 314.09, the highest
trading level since late September.
Among notable movers in the index, shares of Ashtead Group PLC
climbed 3.6% after J.P. Morgan Cazenove lifted the equipment-rental
company to overweight from neutral.
Shares of Burberry Group PLC (BURBY) lost 3.9% after Apple Inc.
(AAPL) named the luxury-goods firm's Chief Executive Angela
Ahrendts as senior vice president of retail and online stores.
More broadly, investors in Europe welcomed developments in the
fiscal negotiations in U.S., with the debt-ceiling looming and the
government shutdown moving into Day 15. On the Senate floor on
Monday, Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid said he was "very
optimistic" about concluding deals "this week" to raise the debt
limit as well as end the government shutdown. Sen. Mitch McConnell,
the minority leader, said he shared Reid's feeling that "we'll get
a result that's acceptable to both sides."
U.S. stocks rose on Monday, and futures also pointed to a higher
open on Tuesday. Asia markets closed mostly higher.
Among country-specific indexes in Europe, the U.K.'s FTSE 100
index picked up 0.6% to 6,549.17, while Germany's DAX 30 index
jumped 0.5% to 8,771.59. France's CAC 40 index rose 0.3% to
4,237.50.
Shares of Rio Tinto PLC (RIO) gained 3.4% after the heavyweight
miner said its iron-ore output rose to a new quarterly record.
Shares of Zurich Insurance Group AG added 1.2% after J.P. Morgan
Cazenove upgraded the firm to neutral from underweight.
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